Then came the cat and bit the goat: This is a reference to the Talmudic statement: “A dog recognizes its master, but a cat does not recognize its master.” Why did God condemn Amalek more strenuously than any other nation? Even the Egyptians, who killed, oppressed and caused Israel to sin, were not condemned to have “their name blotted out” as Amalek was. The reason for the cruel punishment of Amalek had to do with the fact that they were first among all the nations and they saw what happened to the Egyptians at the hand of God. They were the ones, after witnessing the death of so many Egyptians, who went to Pharaoh and told him to pursue Israel after the Israelites left Egypt. Despite God's redemption of Israel from Egypt, Amalek came up with a plan to get around God's protection of Israel by attacking the weakest of them. Yet Israel was even worse. The Israelites refused to recognize their Master in Heaven and cast doubt on God, and they acted like a cat who does not know its own master. It was for this reason that God sent Amalek to attack the Israelites. God then said to Israel, “By your life, I will now send the dog to attack the cat.” Amalek was the dog who was sent to attack Israel, the cat. God said that Amalek was the one who knew who its master was but rebelled against Him, and was better than Israel who saw the power of its Master face to face but questioned whether its master was present or not! But those Israelites who recognized God (even though Israel was like a cat) survived.